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Rapid deployment of aircraft months away

A plan to allow the rapid deployment of Australian aircraft in Indonesian airspace to assist in rescue operations involving asylum seekers will only be finalised early next year.

Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his Indonesian counterpart, E.E. Mangindaan, ratifying an agreement that boosts transport and maritime cooperation.

The MoU, signed in Jakarta, includes a number of new measures to improve the response from rescue agencies when dealing with safety of life at sea, including asylum seeker boats in distress.

It follows a number of incidents involving asylum seeker boats sinking in Indonesian waters as they made their way to Christmas Island this year.

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In August, more than 100 people perished when their boat foundered in the Sunda Strait.

The Indonesian search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, did not begin an aerial search until more than six hours after a distress call was received by the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA).

It was almost 24 hours before the first survivors were pulled from the water.

The MoU brings into force measures agreed to in September, including an officer exchange between BASARNAS and AMSA, as well as additional search and rescue operation exercises.

Indonesia will be provided with satellite technology to improve its search and rescue capabilities while BASARNAS will be given access to ship-tracking capabilities to enable it to enlist the help of merchant ships in the event of emergencies involving asylum seeker boats.

But the centrepiece of the talks in September - the rapid deployment of aircraft - has not yet been signed off on, with Mr Mangindaan saying on Tuesday it was hoped that it would be ratified in February.

He said details surrounding the accompanying standard operating procedure (SOP) had yet to be finalised.

"In emergency situation, it will be lenient and accelerated," he said.

"But we make the SOP first, and then we exercise it."

Mr Albanese said further discussions were needed on the rapid air deployment plan.

He said the MoU would provide the framework for the plan.

"It will ensure that clearance, for example, of Indonesian airspace, for refuelling, for example, will be able to occur in a much more timely way."

"With regard to the finalisation of the airspace agreement, as the minister has said, Indonesia protects its sovereignty."

But Mr Albanese, who was to visit BASARNAS on Tuesday afternoon, insisted there was already a limited application of the plan.

"Already there are mechanisms in place and we have had at least three examples of refuelling where Indonesia has been cooperative," he said.

"So that is occurring already and we look forward to it being put into practice."